What would it take for WMU to change its mind on East Campus? 'A lot of money,' says President John Dunn

KALAMAZOO, MI – What would it take for Western Michigan
University to change its plans to demolish three of the four
buildings on East Campus?

"A lot of money," said Western Michigan University President
John Dunn, speaking in a radio interview July 1 with WMUK, MLive/Kalamazoo
Gazette and The Battle Creek Enquirer.

Dunn was the first guest on WMUK 102.1 FM's new weekly radio program,
"West Southwest," which is scheduled to debut July 3 at 9:20 a.m. WMUK Morning Edition anchor Gordon Evans hosted the program, which also included Battle Creek Enquirer reporter Justin Hinkley and Gazette reporter Yvonne Zipp.

"We've been very open, very transparent. We have made it
known, starting several months ago, what our plans were. There is nothing
hidden, there are no secrets," said Dunn, who added that the Alumni Association's
Executive Board had unanimously endorsed the university's plan for East Campus. "This really is
truly about preserving what I think is the jewel in the crown, and that's East
Hall, and as much of East Hall as possible," said Dunn."

The university's birthplace, which was built with money
donated by the people of Kalamazoo, is slated to be turned into an Alumni
Center, with a scheduled completion date of 2015. West Michigan architecture
firm TowerPinkster has been selected to lead the redesign.

Dunn said that the administration is committed to saving at
least one of the wings of the iconic building. He also would like to save the
other wing, he said, but, while there have been conversations with potential
donors, "nothing's come to fruition yet in terms of donors or dollars."

That said, "I maintain some sense of hope and optimism that we might be
able to do more than we indicated initially or what has been shown," said Dunn.

Of the other three buildings, Dunn was most enthusiastic
about North Hall.

"There are some very nice features in North Hall. We hope to
preserve aspects of that and bring into East Hall and into the Alumni Center,"
said Dunn.

He put North Hall in a separate category from West Hall
and the Speech and Hearing Building, the latter of which Dunn said was in the
worst condition of the three.

"I don't think there's
anything at all that changes the perspective on West Hall or the Speech and
(Hearing) Building," said Dunn.

Dunn said that, while both buildings were declared
structurally sound a couple of years ago by an architect, that's not the same
as being in ready-to-use condition.

"The idea that those are currently at a standard where they
could be occupied and used for classrooms and other purposes, that's just not
accurate," said Dunn. "They clearly are not at a state where you would want to,
or I would want to, sit there and take classes without a huge amount of money
going into fire, safety, accessibility with respect to people with
disabilities. All those federal codes and state standards would have to be
achieved.

"Then the question becomes: For what purpose?" he added.

WMU's president also addressed the plea by Friends of
Historic East Campus, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and other
preservationists that WMU hold off on demolition for at least another year or
two in the hopes that more funding or an alternate plan for reuse could be
found for the other buildings.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we waited another five years and
hope that something new would materialize? Well, we've been waiting for 20
years," said Dunn, adding that the $250,000 to $300,000 annually in heat and
maintenance for the buildings added up over time to several million dollars. "There's got to be
an end to that. I may not be most popular person on that point. But this is not
about popularity contests."